Tracee Hutchison

Tracee Hutchison is an extensively experienced writer, broadcaster, author and producer with over 20 years experience in radio, television and print. Tracee has considerable experience as an event MC and facilitator with a particular focus on social justice.

Key Points

Tracee Hutchison is a popular writer, and TV & Radio broadcaster

Tracee began her career in the media as a producer and presenter for Triple J

Tracce was the Talent Producer and scriptwriter for Nomad, the SBS program that discovered popular band 'Silverchair'

In 1995 Tracee wrote and starred in her debt one-woman entertainment show 'Forgive Catriona Rowntree' at the Melbourne Fringe Festival

More recently, Tracee has been a writer and contributor to the Age Newspaper

Biography

Tracee Hutchison is an Australian broadcaster/journalist and writer with 25 years experience in radio, television and print.

She currently presents a national/international rolling news program weeknights on ABC News Radio/Radio Australia – broadcasting throughout Australia/Asia/Pacific.

She’s worked extensively nationally/internationally as a presenter for ABC radio; JJJ, Radio Australia, ABC News Radio, 774/Melbourne, 702/Sydney, 8DDD/Darwin and 2NR/Lismore - and on television as a presenter, reporter, producer and writer; 7.30 Report, SBS TV World News & ‘Dateline’ and co-host (with James Reyne) of DIG TV.

Production roles include: Talent co-ordinator/scriptwriter ‘Rockwiz’, Series Producer ‘nomad’ and field producer ‘Getaway’.

Tracee was Program Director at Melbourne community station 3RRR.FM from 2002-2005 and presented a weekly politics/environment/social justice program ‘the word’ for 7 years.

She was an Opinion columnist for the Saturday Age from 2005-2009 and is the author of 3 books: a 1980’s Australian music anthology ‘Your Names on the Door’ and two fundraising cookbooks for the Mirabel Foundation – ‘Rock Chefs for Mirabel’ and ‘Laughing Stock’.

She is a proud Ambassador for the Big Issue Women’s Subscription Enterprise and a qualified Civil Celebrant.

Presentation Topics

Master of Ceremonies

Television, radio and print

Testimonials

“I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Tracee at the Social Enterprise World Forum. Across our time together Tracee seamlessly wove together her questions with just the right dose of insight, honesty and candour. And as a highly perceptive interviewer she has an ability to gently coax vulnerability or disarmingly pinpoint truths. Our hour together felt more like sharing a cup of tea with a friend rather than being interviewed in front of a large audience”. Rebecca Scott; CEO, Streat (Social Enterprise World Forum '09 delegate)

“After taking part in almost too many panels in various academic and practitioners’ conferences around the world, participating in a panel orchestrated by Tracee was a refreshing surprise. Not only did she know about the topics almost as much as the panellist themselves (obviously the result of deep, good old-fashioned journalistic research), but she also approached the issues from new and insightful angles and did so with a perfect combination of curiosity, seriousness and grace. When one adds to all this Tracee’s profound menschlichkeit and empathetic sense of humour, one probably starts to understand why both the panellist and the audience wanted this experience to go way beyond the allocated 90 minutes.” Dr. Nir Tsuk, Managing Director, Ashoka Israel (Social Enterprise World Forum '09 delegate).

“Tracee Hutchison asks the difficult questions where others fear to tread! I have engaged Tracee as a moderator/MC on four different occasions since 2002 when I established the City of Melbourne’s program of free talks – Melbourne Conversations. Over that time the program has established a reputation for being the premier event for popular discussion and debate for Melbournians and their concerns. Tracee was humorous and tuned into Melbourne’s street scene when she hosted Café Culture - Are we still the café capital? In 2008 we saw the social engagement side of Tracee’s caring personality during the Homeless World Cup. Tracee MC’d three talks for me and navigated the very sensitive topic of homelessness over three days. I have very high standards and loved working with Tracee – she delivers”.Jeffrey Taylor; Creative Producer Melbourne Conversations, City of Melbourne

“Tracee Hutchison was the perfect MC for the 2006 World Environment Day Rally for Victoria's forests - warm, engaging, adaptive, on message. MC'ing this rally was extremely challenging, Tracee had to coordinate 150,000 people through the streets of Melbourne from the back of a truck, then leading a march and finally at Fed Square. She had to handle celebrities, musicians, campaigners and fundraisers. No rally ever goes exactly to plan, and Tracee's ability to adapt calmly and happily to changing circumstances was brilliant”.Wilderness Society

“As a long time supporter of the Mirabel Foundation, Tracee Hutchison was the perfect choice by the author and publisher to launch my biography 'The Damage Undone' - both from a personal and professional perspective. Tracee's deep understanding of social issues combined with her compassion, integrity and ability to engage any audience made for a heartfelt tribute which set the tone for a wonderful evening”.The Mirabel Foundation

"I highly recommend Tracee Hutchison as a keynote speaker. Her energy, passion, sense of social justice and humour delighted the audience at a recent Southern Women's Action Network (SWAN) meeting as well as provoking much debate about maintaining integrity and idealism in the media”.SWAN

“Tracee Hutchison was an easy choice as co-host for DIG TV, the ABC’s new TV series on music on ABC2. Tracee has a long, highly credentialed and credible background as a dj, writer, TV host and commentator, as well as being an unashamed fan. Her knowledge and experience is matched by her warmth, charm and sense of humour as a broadcaster and her on-camera appeal”.DIG TV/ABC2

“Tracee Hutchison was our guest speaker at a Melbourne Girls' College dinner for International Women's Day in March 2007. Tracee spoke with enthusiasm to a very mixed audience of mothers, girls from 13 to 18 years of age, grandmothers and teachers. She managed to enthral the audience with her interesting tale of the challenges and delights in her career and personal life. The audience responded to Tracee's honesty in her portrayal of the events that had shaped her career. Her great sense of humour and her fantastic presence meant that all members of the audience thoroughly enjoyed the evening. I have had great feedback about the evening from many members of the College community”.Principal, Melbourne Girls' College

“A superb effort, the evaluations were all very positive and the working group was very impressed.

“Tracee was terrific to work with, a true professional who is so easy to converse with”.Bendigo Mens Health Week

“We were delighted to have Tracee host the 2009 Annual Earthwatch Dinner and Oration. This was the first time the event had featured an MC and Tracee’s knowledge, warmth, humour and consummate stagecraft ensured our decision was the correct one - it was a spectacular success. We look forward to working with Tracee again“. Richard Gilmore; Executive Director, Earthwatch Institute

"Tracee is one of the best prepared and well researched presenters I have worked with. She has a warm, engaging style which puts interviewees at ease and the fact that she has a deep understanding of her subject as well as the non-profit sector is clearly evident. We had some terrific feedback from Tracee's sessions at Social Enterprise World Forum, SEWF09, and she worked well in the team to help deliver an outstanding event."Marylou Verbene - Director, Social Ventures Australia

Jules has been a Foster carer and single mother for over 30 children. She featured on Australian story in June 2014 and was acknowledged for her dedication and commitment to a life of service to others. She was a contestant on Masterchef 2013 and is vocal about the key role food plays in functioning families. She has launched her own charity for Women and Children and is an inspirational community leader. Furthermore she is a specialist consultant in teenagers in crisis and their families. She is the Ambassador for ‘adopt change’ with Deborah Lee Furness and Hugh Jackman. She is dedicated to influencing positive change in the lives of those in need, here and abroad!

Nicole represented Australia in swimming at three Olympic Games, three Commonwealth Games and six Pan Pacific Championships, and has successfully made the transition into television and radio sports presenting. She began working with the Nine Network in 1996 taking various sports presenting roles with the broadcaster, before moving to Network Ten in 2009. She is now a regular on "The Project".

With 29 years’ experience, Stephen is one of Australia’s leading financial market economists and most effective communicators. He is Head of Economic and Market Research at Colonial First State Global Asset Management (2009-present). Previously (1994-2009) he was a Managing Director and Co-Head of Economic and Market Research at Citigroup. Stephen is also Chairman of the Australian Business Economists. Stephen uses his years of experience travelling the world to explain the state of the global economy and what the future holds. He looks at how markets, governments and policy makers respond to the economic outlook and what this means for investors and business people in Australia. With his years of experience and relaxed presentation style, Stephen has a fantastic ability to help explain the complex economic environment and outlook in an easy to understand way.

Since coming to Australia’s attention as the winner of ABC’s second series of Race Around the World, Tony has developed a career as a broadcaster, television presenter and author. He joined The Breakfasters on 3RRR for six years, and has worked on The Late Report, The Einstein Factor and Santo Sam and Ed’s Cup Fever. He’s recently had recurring spots on Triple M and ABC 774 as well as adding to his seven published children’s books.

Director of Bedrooms to Boardrooms and one of Australia’s leading university trained psychotherapists, Jackie is considered a specialist in the area of personal and professional relationships. She hosted her own radio show called Bedrooms to Boardrooms on Sydney’s leading radio station MIX 106.5 where people “Chat with Jack on life, love and work”.

Ray wasn't the brightest kid at school growing up in the rough western suburbs of Melbourne... you had to have 'street-smarts' to survive. Unable to read or write, Ray was the MD of Video Gold, a business venture he started at the age of 22, Video Gold grew to a turnover of $90m in under 12 months. The revolutionary Video Gold copy depth leasing program (of new release movies for $1 a day) changed the video industry overnight and was responsible for the introduction of large shopping centre type video libraries.

Dianne McGrath is one of 100 remaining candidates worldwide from 202,586 original applicants to go on a "one way" mission to Mars. Di's aim is to leave a legacy as she seeks to establish the first permanent human settlement on Mars.

Robyn is the master of voices and communication and the expert on “The Power of the Word.” She has more than 30 years background in Education, Marketing, Advertising and Communication, Relationship Marketing, Work/Home Balance and Wellness.

Categories

Featured Speakers

Holly Kramer, recently appointed a Director of the Nine Entertainment Corporation, has spent the past 3 years as CEO of one of Australia’s best known retail brands, Best & Less. She was responsible for the remarkable turnaround and business transformation across 200 stores, both financially and culturally, leading the way and empowering those within the business to truly understand customers and their needs. Holly has forged a remarkable career and been instrumental with other leading brands including the Ford Motor Company USA & Australia, Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd (PBL), Telstra, and Pacific Brands. She is also a champion of diversity in the executive ranks: a driver behind the Telstra Business Women’s Awards for 10 years and a Council Member with Chief Executive Women (whose mission is Women Leaders Enabling Women Leaders).

Neryl is best known as Australia’s ‘Mercenary Mum’, the woman that risked it all to protect high threat targets from assassination and opportune attack in one of the world’s most dangerous cities. Described by the media as a ‘dangerously skilled national weapon’, Neryl is the inspirational single mum who went from working as a Woolworth’s checkout chick, to risking her life as a highly trained bodyguard in Baghdad, Iraq.

David Bartlett was Premier of Tasmania between 2008 and 2011. Prior to politics David had a highly successful career in the IT sector as CIO and innovation specialist. For his current work in digital futures, innovation and technology leadership he was recently named as one of Australia’s 50 Most Influential People in Technology. Apart from being an excellent speaker on "Decoding the Future" David is also an outstanding MC/Host who always gets great results for any organisation he works with.

Andrew MacLeod is an accomplished organisational leader. He brings a practical, experienced analysis to the link between sovereign and community risks and the valuation of major assets particularly in developing economies. Andrew is the Managing Director of Good Super in Australia, non-Executive Director for New York based Cornerstone Capital and was the CEO of the Committee for Melbourne 2006 – 2008. Historically he worked as a high level humanitarian official with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations in wars and natural disasters. In 2005 he was Chief of Operations to the UN’s Emergency Operation Center in Pakistan in the wake of the devastating earthquakes and his team lead the South Asian relief and reconstruction operation for 2 ½ years across Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. His career has spanned humanitarian, government and business, always focussed on the interface between corporations, government and communities, finding ways to solve large-scale challenges.

Michael gives a powerful, interactive and extremely moving presentation where you will master the gift of giving and truly begin to understand the real meaning of success. He is one of Australia’s most sought after inspirational speakers. A highly entertaining and thought provoking insight into overcoming extreme adversity’s to live a life of exceptional achievements. Assured to put a tear in your eye and a smile in your heart.

Steve Sammartino is an expert on the digital revolution and disruptive technologies. His latest book "The Great Fragmentation" was launched at the end of July 2014 but by the end of August 2014 was already translated into three different languages. The book is a 'strategy play book for the technology revolution'. Steve was also on the front page of almost every leading newspaper around the world after building a Lego Car from 500,000 pieces. It runs on air!

Meiron Lees is an international speaker, award winning author and facilitator specialising in the areas of building trusting relationships and resilience. His book D-Stress, Building Resilience in Challenging Times won the coveted award as the No 1 self-development book in the USA in 2010. Meiron’s extensive research on the subject of trust inspired him to develop his “How to build trusting relationships” keynote in which he shares the three key criteria that strengthen business relationships in any industry.

The Aussie Innovator is a passionate entrepreneur and presenter. His most recent invention: HEGS™ has won the prestigious international Good Design Award and was featured on Channel 10’s Shark Tank Australia. Scott’s many roles and experiences throughout his life’s journey will inspire you, while ensuring that innovation and a winning mindset is key to both your personal and professional development.

Perceptionist Tom Berger has astounded thousands of people with his amazing MindGames show called 'Your Thoughts Are Written All Over Your Face'. Join him for a night of great entertainment as he blends perception, humour, psychology and influence in his one man show. Audience members experience a jaw-dropping performance of wonder as Tom speed reads people with uncanny accuracy. It's a mini X-Files on stage, which is thought provoking and totally audience interactive. Tom also teaches people techniques about how to pick up non verbal buying signals which are more likely to have people wanting to do business with you.

Former Federal Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Lindsay Tanner was widely regarded as one of the Government's strongest economic thinkers and highly respected by industry leaders and economic analysts.

Ky Furneaux broke her back in a car accident when she was 19 years old and was told that she would never be physically active again. Nevertheless she went on to become a stunt performer in Hollywood, eventually winning a Taurus World Stunt Award (the Oscar of stunts) in 2012 for being the best female stunt performer in the world. She has now worked alongside the likes of Hugh Jackman, Sharon Stone and Jennifer Garner.

Louise Mahler is an expert on the topic of “dealing with difficult people.” Often referred to as the “female Allan Pease” Louise was identified by IBM as one of 50 creative leaders globally. Louise received the highest ranking speaker ever at The CEO Institute and was Listed in the Who's Who of Australian Women

Mick Colliss’s tale of mateship, creative thinking and sudoku will leave you breathless with laughter. Mick and his best mates travelled to India to take part in the International Sudoku Championships in India – even though they didn’t know how to play the game.

Holly was handpicked by Rio Tinto CEO Sam Walsh, at the age of 21 to support him in creating effective change through the organisation. She was also handpicked by Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott to work on the World Y 20 and B20 conferences in Australia in July and September 2014 and was a 2013 finalist for the Young Australian of the Year. The Financial Review named her one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Australia. Holly exudes energy and is uplifting to be around. When she speaks, people listen whether young or old, experienced or at the start of their careers. Holly was on ABC’s Q and A recently with many people commenting that she’s a future Prime Minister. Holly's presentations are outstanding and cover areas such as Effective Change, Intergenerational Leadership, Organisational Intrapreneurship, Strategic Communication, community engagement and stakeholder management. Not a bad CV for a lady who hasn't even reached her mid 20's!

Australia’s first female Winter Olympic Gold Medallist, Alisa Camplin, possesses that rare story telling ability that inspires, entertains and transfers knowledge. Tens of thousands of people have been motivated, laughed and cried, and walked away with a toolkit of skills to create their own success after listening to Australia’s premier female speaker. Learning to ski at just 19 years of age, Alisa broke nearly every bone in her body as she climbed through the ranks, brought home back-to-back Olympic medals and dominated the sport of Freestyle Aerial Skiing. At the same time, Alisa built a global career with corporate giant IBM, leading $200M+ businesses as a senior executive working across brand strategy, sales, business development and service delivery. Proving that success is a choice, Alisa then turned heart-wrenching personal adversity into an opportunity to improve the lives of others, raising more than $1M through her charity Finnan’s Gift. Now leading from the boardroom, Alisa is fresh, honest and deliberate in her pursuits, combining business fundamentals with an authentic resilient attitude in order to succeed. As real as they come, Alisa Camplin is nothing short of amazing!

Dianne McGrath is one of 100 remaining candidates worldwide from 202,586 original applicants to go on a "one way" mission to Mars. Di's aim is to leave a legacy as she seeks to establish the first permanent human settlement on Mars.

Pauline Nguyen is a recent winner of Australia's Telstra Business Award for Medium Businesses and the owner and co-founder of Red Lantern, the most awarded Vietnamese restaurant in the world. Pauline is an international bestselling author and winner of Newcomer Writer of the Year for her memoir Secrets of the Red Lantern. She is currently writing her next book, 'Grace Under Fire: The Way of the Spiritual Entrepreneur'. Pauline is one of this country's most successful entrepreneurs and a true reflection of what can be achieved through hard work.

Graeme Cowan is one of Australia’s leading authorities on leadership resilience and creating a mentally healthy work culture. He was also instrumental in helping Gavin Larkin and a small team start and grow R U OK? Author of 3 best-selling books and the report ‘The Elephant in the Boardroom’, Graeme is regularly interviewed by the Australian and overseas media about improving resilience, engagement, and performance at work.

If you want to know where entrepreneurship, online entrepreneurship, and intrapreneurship are heading in Australia, you must hear Bernadette Schwerdt speak. At last count the word ‘entrepreneur’ generated 159 million Google results. Clearly, people of all persuasions, including governments, associations and employer groups want to know the secrets of successful entrepreneurship, and in particular, online entrepreneurship. And who better to lead the conversation than Bernadette Schwerdt? As the host of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald’s online video show ‘Secrets of Aussie Online Entrepreneurs’ (and the author of a book of the same name coming due out this May) Bernadette is in a unique position to reveal the inner-most secrets behind how and why these outstanding business owners have risen to the top of their fields and become industry disruptors that have shaken their industries to the core. Bernadette shares those insights with humour and theatricality and provides relevant, practical and useful case studies, ‘how-to’ checklists, and step-by-step processes on how those lessons can be applied by anyone – SMEs, associations, and corporate teams - to create successful online endeavours.

Daniel Flynn is the Managing Director and Co-Founder of Thankyou Group, a business venture he founded at just 19 years of age. Profits from the sale of Thankyou products are used to provide clean drinking water, health and hygiene projects and short term food aid. Last year alone Daniel donated in excess of $2,500,000 to charity. An incredible business and social enterprise success story. Daniel was named Victorian Young Achiever of the Year in 2013, Victorian Young Australian of the Year in 2014 and has recently become a recipient in the 2014 Junior Chamber International 10 Young Outstanding People of The World program. People who have heard Daniel speak are blown away by his entertaining and inspiring tale.

Brad is twice winner of Australian Young Entrepreneur of the Year and runner-up International Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Brad's company braaap has won Australian Retail Business of the Year four times. In 2014 he was appointed to the Reserve Bank of Australia's advisory board. Brad inspires audiences all around the world and many have called him "The future Richard Branson".

Christine Nixon was the 19th Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, the first woman to become a police commissioner in Australia. She led 14,000 staff, operating across more than 500 locations and oversaw an annual budget of $1.7 billion.

Steven Bradbury truly is a ‘must see’ motivational speaker, MC and entertainer. Having presented at over 800 conferences and events in 15 countries, Steven knows his way around a stage like he used to know his way around an ice rink, and he still loves it. He loves the adrenalin before going onstage and loves that his strategies for success in business and in life are able to inspire and help people. Through combining motivation, comedy and entertainment Steven has found his niche. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

Christophe was brought up competing in Motocross. When he moved to San Diego from West Africa to continue racing he was a 21 year old Motocross Champion, pursuing his dreams – he also could not speak English and if he was to stay in the USA he needed to ‘study something’. Determination saw him overcome the language barrier and go on to achieve a MBA with a triple major in Finance, Supply Chain, and New Venture Management – no mean feat. His continuing ambition led to Pricewaterhousecoopers in New York and he then achieved another of his dreams and moved to Australia. His consulting practice BvW was created and now 14 years later Christophe advises Australian Government Agencies and Corporations in complex Procurement and Implementation of Performance Management Frameworks. So business was great but something was missing – his love of motocross! The Dakar Rally, the world’s most difficult, most dangerous, 10,000kms extreme motorsport race was the answer. In his last attempt Dream Racer was born. Dream Racer is an internationally acclaimed film, documenting Christophe’s race in the world’s most extreme rally and was created to inspire and motivate people to achieve their own dreams.

Award-winning business leader, founder and CEO of Inkling Women, Australia’s leading training and development organisation for women leaders. Gemma has worked with some of the country’s top CEOs and executive teams to reduce the gender gap in their organisations, and has inspired tens of thousands of women to create extraordinary lives and careers.

Bear Grylls has a natural talent for communication and his speaking and TV shows has brought him worldwide acclaim. As a motivational speaker, he has addressed corporations all around the world on his experiences on Everest and how these can help us in our life and business environments. He is among the youngest and most successful speakers in the world.

Michael is one of Australia's most respected and experienced finance and economics commentators with four decades working in newspaper, broadcast and on-line journalism. He formerly presented the morning finance report on Nine’s Early Morning News and The Today Show, and he currently appears on Channel Seven’s Sunrise.

The founder of Business Review Weekly, Robert has spent more than 30 years writing and commentating about business and investment in Australia. He has won the Walkley award and Australian Journalist of the Year Award. He’s currently an associate editor for the Business Spectator and writes the weekly Eureka Report.

Todd is the Star of ABC's hit TV show The Gruen Transfer and the CEO of Leo Burnett, Australia which is now ranked as the seventh most creative company in the world. He is the co-creator of the Earth Hour initiative, which in 2009 saw 1 billion people participate making it the biggest environment movement in history.

Shane Jacobson was the star of the international award-winning film Kenny, and co-host of Top Gear Australia. He recently starred as Luce in The Time of Our Lives and appears as Barry Tregear in the Jack Irish telemovies.

David spent 25 years as an executive and director with Smorgon Consolidated Industries, followed by 16 years as the chairman of the Western Bulldogs AFL Club. David is an outstanding speaker who can speak on almost any topic.

Jeff was a member of the Victorian Parliament for 23 years, including seven years as Premier. He was president of the Hawthorn Football Club for six years, and founded the national depression initiative Beyondblue.

Peter is one of Australia’s leading business and financial commentators, with his own show on Sky TV. The Switzer Group has grown into three successful companies spanning media and publishing, financial services and business coaching. He’s a former lecturer of Economics at the University of NSW.

Anh’s unique life story makes for a poignant, relatable, and inspiring story, which he shares easily with audiences of one or one million. Well known as a comedian, he’s also the author of The Happiest Refugee, soon to be made into a film.

Sam Kekovich is a former star AFL footballer who is now the face of lamb advertisements for Meat and Livestock Australia. These days Kekovich enjoys playing the commentator and entertainer and is a self made entrepreneur and media identity. His media credits include regular appearances on Channel 9’s Footy Show and radio station, SEN 1116. Sam Kekovich is an engaging host and entertaining story teller who is extremely humorous; bringing together his best moments and the characters he has encountered over the last 30 plus years not just on the footy field but in life.

Carolyn Creswell, Carman's Fine Foods founder and managing director, has single-handedly grown her business from hand making muesli for a few Melbourne cafes and delis, to a multinational company turning over more than $50 million annually. Her business success has turned her into a TV celebrity.